ZVARTNOTS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

'Zvartnots International Airport' () is located near Zvartnots, about 10 km west of Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The airport was built in 1961 and renewed in the 1980's with the development of a new terminal area, in order to meet domestic traffic demands within the Soviet Union (the draftsmen of the airport included architects M. Khachikyan, A. Tarkhanyan, J. Sheqhlyan, L. Cherkezyan and designers H. Tigranyan, A. Meschyan, and constructor M. Baghdasaryan).^[1]
In 1998, a new air cargo terminal was opened. In 2002, Armenia International Airports, the company in charge of the management of Zvartnorts airport, decided to start the renovation and extension works with the intention of becoming a link for tourism and commerce between Asia and Europe.
After 40 months of work a new international terminal was opened on June 1, 2007.
In 2006, a total of 1,125,700 passengers used Zvartnots airport, representing an increase of 1.3% over the previous year.

Contents

Access to airport

Recent and ongoing expansion

Security

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

Access to airport

Bus #201 connects the airport with the crossroads of Sayat-Nova and Mashtots streets in Yerevan. Bus #108 also connects the city center with the airport. All departing passengers must pay the airport tax of 10.000 AMD (approx. 30 USD) at the exchange booth before check-in.

Recent and ongoing expansion

In 2004 the construction of a new international terminal began, at a cost of $100 million USD. It covers an area of 19.2 thousand square meters and can handle 2 million passengers a year. The building of this terminal is part of the agreement signed by the Armenian Government in December 2001 leasing the Yerevan Zvartnots airport for 30 years to the Argentine-American company "Corporation America", owned by Argentine-Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian.
On September 14 2006 the newly built arrivals hall was opened. The new international terminal with its departures section was opened on June 1 2007.
An additional investment of $100 million USD will be carried out until 2010.
Improvements at Zvartnots will involve a total investment of €164 million for the next 30 years. Armenia International Airports has already allocated over 70 million to the first phase, which included a 19,200 sq m extension of the premises and a refurbishment of around 45,000 sq m.
Now that the first phase is complete, the airport boasts a 54,000 sq m runway and 45,000 sq m of building. In addition, a new terminal was created that occupies a 25,000 sq m area.

After completing the project, the company expects that the airport will achieve a passenger-traffic of over 2 million people in its first year. In order to adapt to the forthcoming increase in visitors, new parking has been created, with capacity for 1,000 vehicles. In terms of freight transport, the airport has been operating a new cargo terminal since 1998, which has a floor space of 10,000 sq m and is capable of handling 1,000 tons of cargo annually.
Thirty-four international airlines will now operate from Zvartnots, connecting Yerevan and Armenia to the world’s most important cities, including London. Altogether around 60 routes will be scheduled to fly from Zvartnots.
In addition, the company has focused on improving visitor's comfort within the terminal. Arrivals hall capacity has been doubled to reach a volume of over 1,000 passengers per hour, and passenger management will be streamlined thanks to a substantial expansion of the customs.
Finally, the airport’s waiting areas and restaurants have been extensively renovated, together with the enhancement of the Duty Free shops’ product offering.

Security

In order to comply with the international air regulations, Armenia International Airports has made a great effort to improve security at Zvartnots. Amongst other measures, 150 surveillance cameras have been installed at the airport, both inside the buildings and in open spaces.
The modernization effort has been significant, including the implementation of an innovative flight information display system (FIDS) as well as a new automated and biometric-identification system for baggage check-in and passenger control. All buildings are now also equipped with free Wi-Fi Internet connection.

Airlines and destinations

★ Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)

★ Aeroflot-Don (Rostov-on-Don)

★ Aeromist-Kharkiv (Kharkov)

★ Air Arabia (Sharjah)

★ Air Armenia (Astrakhan, Saratov, Tbilisi, Zaporizhzhia)

★ Air France (Paris-Charles de Gaulle)

★ Armavia (Adler/Sochi, Aleppo, Amsterdam, Ashgabat, Athens, Beirut, Cologne/Bonn, Dubai, Frankfurt [seasonal], Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, Minsk, Moscow-Domodedovo, Moscow-Vnukovo, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Odessa, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Samara, Simferopol, Stavropol, Tbilisi, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv, Volgograd, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg)


★ Astrakhan Airlines (Astrakhan)

★ Atlantis European Airways (Prague, Vienna)

★ Atlasjet (Istanbul-Atatürk)

★ Austrian Airlines (Vienna)

★ BAL Bashkirian Airlines (Ufa)

★ Belavia (Minsk)

★ British Airways

★
★ operated by BMED (London-Heathrow)

★ Caspian Airlines (Tehran-Imam Khomeini)

★ Constanta Airline (Zaporozhia)

★ Czech Airlines (Prague)

★ DonbassAero (Donetsk, Kiev-Boryspil)

★ Karat (Adler/Sochi)

★ Kavminvodyavia (Mineralnye Vody)

★ KrasAir (Krasnoyarsk)

★ Kuban Airlines (Krasnodar)

★ Lufthansa (Munich)

★ Moskovia Airlines (Voronezh)

★ Orenburg Airlines (Orenburg)

★ Perm Airlines (Kaliningrad, Perm, Kazan)

★ Polet Airlines (Voronezh)

★ Rossiya (St. Petersburg)

★ S7 Airlines (Chelyabinsk, Moscow-Domodedovo, Novosibirsk, Perm)


★ Samara Airlines (Samara)

★ Saravia (Saratov)

★ Scat Air (Aktau)

★ Syrian Arab Airlines (Aleppo)

★ Tarhan Tower Airlines (Istanbul-Atatürk)

★ Tatarstan Airlines (Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod)

★ Tbilaviamsheni (Tbilisi, Batumi (charter))

★ Ural Airlines (Yekaterinburg)

★ UTair (Adler/Sochi)

★ Volga-Aviaexpress (Volgograd)

★ Yamal Airlines (Tyumen)

References

1. ''Image caption on Zvartnots Airport'', in Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia. Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1986. vol. xii, 512.

External links

★ Zvartnots International Airport (official site, requires Adobe Flash)

★ Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia (official site)

★ Armenia Aeronautical Infromation Publication - UDYZ Aerodrome Information (official site)

★ Online arrival/departure table (provided a workaround access to airport web content without Adobe Flash)

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